The 25 Best Guitar and Music Apps

Everything you need to turn your smartphone or tablet into an extension of your guitar.

Guitar World presents everything you need to turn your smartphone or tablet into an extension of your guitar, including apps that will advance your playing, improve your tone, record your songs and maybe teach you something along the way.

Everything you need to get playing is already on your phone or tablet. You just need the app to get it going. GuitarToolKit is that app.

It offers a tuner, an interactive and extensive chord chart, a drum-machine-like metronome and other features to get you on the right track.

It can be customized for seven- and 12-string instruments, basses, banjos, mandolins and more, making it a go-to resource for the building blocks of metal, country, jazz or beyond. It was even designed with lefties in mind.

You’ve diligently learned Dimebag Darrell’s solo to “Cemetery Gates,” but a day before the big gig your singer finally admits he can’t actually reach the really, really high note Phil Anselmo sings toward the end of the song.

No worries. TabToolKit lets you upload and download tab files and transpose them to any key to suit the rest of your bandmates.

The beautifully designed app also offers standard and tab notation, MIDI multitrack playback for full scores, instrument guides (for learning fretboard placement) and more. No matter where you, you can be a Cowboy from Hell.

The recently released Guitar World Lessons app provides downloadable video guitar lessons—for purchase—in a host of genres—from blues to metal to bluegrass and jazz (and let's not forget shred!)—at the click of a button.

Guitar World Lessons offers immediate delivery of hundreds of lessons from the massive and impressive Guitar World catalog. The app is available at the iTunes store for the iPhone and iPad. Note that the app download itself is free; instructional guitar and bass lessons can be purchased and downloaded by individual lesson or full download of the instructional product.

The search function allows guitarists to search lessons and products by artist, song, genre or instructor. Some of Guitar World’s best-selling lesson products are featured, including Guitar World Senior Music Editor Jimmy Brown’s Mastering Fretboard Harmony and more.

Comments

Why would you choose an only iTunes App? I know some that are both on Google Play and iTunes, like Jellynote. And for those who are ready to argue about latency, I tested it on my xperia Z3, and it works just fine. Moreover, this is a free App (with a premium version) that gives you everything you need to play music:
- 150k tabs and scores
- metronome/tuner etc.
- offline songbook
- synchronized videos
- practice mode
- learning mode
The last features will even make you feel as if you were playing a video game just like Guitar Hero, how awesome is that?

Just test it you will see by yourself that I'm right: https://goo.gl/YEIn9N

The Ultimate Guitar Tabs app is pure annoying BS that uses underhanded dealing to extract more and more money from their customers.

I've purchased it thrice (once on Android and twice on iOS) and it is CONSTANTLY trying to sell me more stuff, all the time. I don't want that from an app I've already paid for .... three frickin' times. There seems to be no "I am not interested in any damned sales pitches, just get to the freaking tab I asked for" setting.

And you cannot, literally cannot, close the "Wanna buy our app?" window that pops up when you go to their site in a browser on iOS. Try to click the X to close the window and you are instead taken to the "Buy our app" page in the App Store. Every single time. Even though I own the damned app. On all my mobile devices.

But what's worse, is that they've co-opted (or maybe even bought) some other formerly unaffiliated tab sites, so that they now display Ultimate Guitar's unclosable app purchase window.

Even though I own the app, I prefer not to use it. I like to have the tabulature open in one browser tab, the backing track in another, and maybe the scale diagrams in a third so I can go back and forth in learning a song. The Ultimate Guitar app/website makes this a pain in the gluteus, even for their paying customers.

That's some cheap, shady, money-grubbing business right there. And I don't like it.

As a guitar teacher, Guitar Toolkit is the best. I also recommend a new one called 7 Minute Guitar. It just came out and it's a great practice tool for students as well as players who don't always have a lot of time to practice.

I find this app a great reference to have by my side while I'm sitting and practicing, for scales, modes, and arpeggios. I just prop up my ipad and dial in the scale form I want to practice. iPhone too.

For those that already have a basic understanding of music theory, here's a great tool: Guitar Focus (iPad/Android/Kindle Fire).
Features include:
A chord/mode view that shows a scale's notes as chord/mode intervals, with visual emphasis on chord tones + dual fretboards to practice changes + adjustable focus window.
sublimeid.com/guitarfocus/

Hello guys, I'm a guitar player and developers from Italy. I developed some apps for my own guitar practice, and then I thought they were worth to share. The apps are web-based and run on an html5 browser and obviously are free. if you want to check them out, www.fachords.com

Back in January Sonoma Wire Works, makers of Taylor EQ in the piece, offered up a license to device manufacturer solution that I haven't heard much more about after their press release - http://www.sonomawireworks.com/pr/android-low-latency-audio-solution.php. No matter what Android has done or will do to it's os's the hardware is going to have to support it. Meaning back on the consumer treadmill for probably the latest Nexus device. For what it's worth Guitar Jam Tracks is on andy and plus one for Guitar Pro. ( pitchlab and waves are great tuners also).

If you are an android user why don't you post some awesome apps that work on your device. I have seen multiple posts saying that they didnt add any to this list, and yet none of you have mentioned an app that should have been added...stop bitching and start posting your favorite android app already...

Why is the best and most interesting (for me) guitar app not in this list?
And the best of all: it works on Mac/Linux/Win and iOS/Android/Blackberry!
Guitar Pro www.guitar-pro.com
Or do i have missed that somewhere?

Exactly what Kenstee has said. The only reason for all these apps not to be on Android is because of the latency issue with Android (the difference in the time from when you press or touch the button/screen and when the sound is produced). This issue is there in Windows as well but the latency can be cut down to playable levels by a piece of software called ASIO4All.
I'm an android user but I got an iPad just for the guitar/music apps.
Until Android doesn't do something about latency, app developers can't do anything.
But no problem for non interactive instrument apps like tuners and tab reader. I have Guitar Pro on android, works great. Why wasn't it mentioned here?

OK Androiders...chill! The major issue is the latency issue in Android which has still been yet to be solved to the satisfaction of app developers. Nothing more sinister than that. No conspiracy theories, etc. Facts are facts... Don't you think developers would be more than happy to take your money too? It is what it is.

Android Guys:
There is no standardized API for audio/recording in Android like there is with iOS, since devices come from many manufacturers and audio hardware varies from device to device... it has been difficult to standardize.

GW is not playing favorites or trying to slight you and developers are not ignoring you. It is simply a reality of the market as it currently stands. I'm sure the developers would love to have your money but there is simply not much out there for Android because the audio interface is limited.

Also, GW: You desperately need to check out Jam Up and Bias the two best apps for iOS guitar.

I have been on both sides of the Android and iOS fence and have felt slighted as an Android user when it comes to app articles anywhere. Truth is, it isn't on the author, it is on app developers. The pleas for Android guitar apps would be heard more at sites where developers will hear them.

Guitar Apps on Apple, great, but how about for Android? I am not a fanboy of Android but I prefer to use it because it's easy to use simple as that. There are some guitar lesson app for Android but they're not great just like these 25.

When will you guys admit that you are in bed with apple? From your Quicktime fiasco to only offering the lick of the day in ios format and now 25 apps that are all.....surprise apple based. Your behavior reeks of some type of payola scheme in exchange for exclusivity.